Fred Zaspel is the author of The Theology of B. B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary
(Crossway, 2010). Recently, I had a chance to ask Fred a variety of
questions: such as the process that led to the writing of a book on
Warfield, the impact of Warfield’s theology on his day, and its
continuing impact. And, how Warfield might address some of the
theological issues the church faces in the 21st century.
Who was B.B. Warfield, and why is he important?
B.B. Warfield (1851-1921) was professor of theology at old Princeton
Seminary (1887-1921). He was internationally recognized as the most
broadly equipped and most deeply informed theologian of his day. His
career took place in an era of enormous theological change in professing
Christendom and in his own Presbyterian church. Essential teachings of
the Christian faith held by the church since its beginning were being
denied, and he above all others stood against the “liberal” tide at
virtually every point of its attempted advance. He more than anyone in
the history of the church gave exhaustive definition and defense of the
inspiration of Scriptures, and in the century since relatively little of
substance has been added to his hundreds of published pages on this
basic tenet of the faith. He also provided massive exegetical defense of
the person and work of Christ against the various “kenotic” theologians
of the day whose de-supernaturalized views of Christ relegated him to
mere “godling” status (to borrow Warfield’s description!). Broadly
equipped in the original languages and all the tools of the modern
criticism and widely read in all the disciplines related to biblical and
theological study, both the breadth and the depth of his grasp were
unsurpassed. With good reason he has been called the spoiler of
liberalism and the man who propelled orthodoxy into the twentieth
century. Keep Reading >>>
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